Biacore Awarded Damages in Patent Dispute

UPPSALA, Sweden, April 27 /PRNewswire/ --
Biacore International AB (Biacore) (Nasdaq: BCOR) (SSE: BCOR) today announced
that, on April 23, 2001, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
granted a permanent injunction preventing Thermo Bioanalysis Corp (Thermo)
from infringing Biacore's patent (U.S. patent no. 5,436,161). Furthermore,
the Court awarded damages in favor of Biacore AB and Biacore Inc. to be
calculated based upon a royalty rate of 40% of the sales price of each IAsys
biosensor sold by Thermo since July 25, 1995, plus interest.
Although the final amount due to Biacore has not been determined at this
time, it is estimated to be in the region of USD 1.7 million.
The decision of the Court can be appealed to the Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit, the centralized appellate Court for patent appeals in the
United States.
Background
On December 30, 1999, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
announced its decision in the patent dispute between Biacore and Thermo. The
Court decided in Biacore's favor, holding that Biacore's patent was valid and
that the patent had been infringed by Thermo's Affinity Sensors unit. The
Court further indicated that it "would grant a permanent injunction preventing
Thermo from infringing the '161 patent' and requested further briefing
regarding the amount of damages to be paid by Thermo for its past infringement
and concerning the language of the permanent injunction. The Court's
April 23, 2001 Judgment addressed these outstanding issues.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
which, by their nature, involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to
events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a
number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements.
Notes to editors:
Biacore is a global market leader in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) based
technology with its own sales operations in the U.S., across Europe, in Japan,
Australia and New Zealand. The technology is protected by a strong patent
portfolio. Target groups consist primarily of medical and life science
research laboratories and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies all over
the world. Biacore focuses on drug discovery as the prime area for future
growth. The company currently has six systems on the market with its
BIACORE(R)3000 system offering specific application in drug discovery
processes upstream of high-throughput screening (HTS). A new high-performance
system is currently under late-stage development and will focus on
applications downstream of HTS.
Based in Uppsala, Sweden, the company is listed on the Stockholm Stock
Exchange and Nasdaq in the U.S. In 2000 the company has sales of
SEK 438.8 million and an operating income of SEK 78.0 million.
Further information on Biacore can be found on the web: www.biacore.com .
Address and phone: Biacore International AB
Rapsgatan 7, SE-754 50 Uppsala, SWEDEN
Phone: +46 (0)18-675700 Fax: +46 (0)18-150111
info@biacore.com

SOURCE Biacore International AB

UPPSALA, Sweden, April 27 /PRNewswire/ --
Biacore International AB (Biacore) (Nasdaq: BCOR) (SSE: BCOR) today announced
that, on April 23, 2001, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
granted a permanent injunction preventing Thermo Bioanalysis Corp (Thermo)
from infringing Biacore's patent (U.S. patent no. 5,436,161). Furthermore,
the Court awarded damages in favor of Biacore AB and Biacore Inc. to be
calculated based upon a royalty rate of 40% of the sales price of each IAsys
biosensor sold by Thermo since July 25, 1995, plus interest.
Although the final amount due to Biacore has not been determined at this
time, it is estimated to be in the region of USD 1.7 million.
The decision of the Court can be appealed to the Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit, the centralized appellate Court for patent appeals in the
United States.
Background
On December 30, 1999, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
announced its decision in the patent dispute between Biacore and Thermo. The
Court decided in Biacore's favor, holding that Biacore's patent was valid and
that the patent had been infringed by Thermo's Affinity Sensors unit. The
Court further indicated that it "would grant a permanent injunction preventing
Thermo from infringing the '161 patent' and requested further briefing
regarding the amount of damages to be paid by Thermo for its past infringement
and concerning the language of the permanent injunction. The Court's
April 23, 2001 Judgment addressed these outstanding issues.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
which, by their nature, involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to
events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a
number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements.
Notes to editors:
Biacore is a global market leader in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) based
technology with its own sales operations in the U.S., across Europe, in Japan,
Australia and New Zealand. The technology is protected by a strong patent
portfolio. Target groups consist primarily of medical and life science
research laboratories and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies all over
the world. Biacore focuses on drug discovery as the prime area for future
growth. The company currently has six systems on the market with its
BIACORE(R)3000 system offering specific application in drug discovery
processes upstream of high-throughput screening (HTS). A new high-performance
system is currently under late-stage development and will focus on
applications downstream of HTS.
Based in Uppsala, Sweden, the company is listed on the Stockholm Stock
Exchange and Nasdaq in the U.S. In 2000 the company has sales of
SEK 438.8 million and an operating income of SEK 78.0 million.
Further information on Biacore can be found on the web: www.biacore.com .
Address and phone: Biacore International AB
Rapsgatan 7, SE-754 50 Uppsala, SWEDEN
Phone: +46 (0)18-675700 Fax: +46 (0)18-150111
info@biacore.com
SOURCE Biacore International AB